A New York Times story May 17 suggested NASCAR wasn’t doing enough about safety. It said they needed to install safety barriers all around the racetracks to prevent serious injuries when crashes occur against the sometimes unprotected inside walls or on certain areas of straightaways. The story cited Jeff Gordon’s crash at Las Vegas and Michael McDowell’s accident at Texas.

Natually, the story quoted driver Jeff Burton, who has been one of the sport’s most vocal safety supporters for a long time.

Honestly, I don’t want to see anyone get injured and I certainly don’t want to see anyone killed racing. Contrary to what one of our beloved sports columnist thinks, fans don’t go to the races to see wrecks. True fans hate wrecks. They cause long, boring delays and can adversely affect the outcome of races.

That’s not to say people don’t enjoy watching replays of some of the more spectacular crashes (like McDowell’s). It’s a conflict many people have trouble dealing with.